"Soaked" in the Spirit

   I returned a few hours ago from serving as the camp pastor at Soaked Jr/Sr. High Camp. My dad thinks its humorous that my brothers and I never actually went to camp as a camper, in all honesty we refused each time he presented it, but each of us have had powerful experiences at camp serving as counselors. This week was not an exception for me.
   I find at camp that I feel free. Free to think, write, reflect on everything tumbling around in mind. Free to just invest in the life of the campers. It is currently my third year back serving at the same camp and I just saw so much fruit in the stability of serving year after year - in campers seeking me out to talk and trusting me with their stories, prayers, and questions. It is also my third year serving as a camp pastor, a new program launched by our annual conference in 2013, which allows me to lead worship and share what is on my heart.
    This week I kept noticing the Spirit moving in ways that are even hard to put into words. In folks giving powerful testimonies. Hearing some of the most sincere and honest prayers I have ever had the privilege of witnessing. In the interactions of one of the counselors and her brother, which made me desperately long for my brothers and I to be counseling alongside each other again.
     Two brief thoughts I want to try to express, knowing I will fail miserably.
Frist, my cabin wasn't in the main building (we were completely full as a camp and had to utilize all possible space). As I was walking back the board walk one night, I found myself reaching for the porch light outside of the cabin to turn it on for the girls I was counseling who I knew would return much later than I that evening. I found myself struck by the through that God always leaves the porch light on for us - inviting us to be in relationship, longing for us to return - no matter how long we've been away. The porch light in my family is left on expecting that someone will return. God eagerly awaits our return in an expectant manner.
      Second, there were some great themes this week, but Thursday's struck me the most, "Jesus as Healer". One of the counselors who had struggled with health issues shared how Christ had healed him and I was dumb-struck by how much that rings true in my life as well, especially over the past year. I struggled for almost eleven month trying to figure out what was leading to intense, almost crippling, stomach pain. Ever test came back negative and I felt like I was being shuffled from doctor to doctor. But now, four months after a diagnosis, I feel pain free. I feel as healthy as I have ever been (atested to by the almost 60 miles we walked this week, according to one counselor's pedometer). I feel healed not only physically, but from the pain of a friendship that went south, where I ended up feeling un-valued as it was not life-giving.  Jesus truly is the healer, but it took me coming to camp to be able to see all the healing that has taken place in my own life.
    There are so many other stories - stories of people being powerfully transformed, but they are not mine to tell. I just praise God for the camping program and what it has meant to me since 2007.